The Stage is Set
by somebody101
Summary: Obi Wan reflects as he is stowed away on Padmé's ship on their way to Mustafar. He prepares himself for the final confrontation with Anakin.


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The Stage Is Set

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Everything was dark. The force was clouded, unclear. His heart and mind were troubled, not only by the horrors he had seen Anakin commit, but having to tell Padmé that he had committed such acts. He still wasn't sure how he had not noticed the poor woman was pregnant before now, not only had he failed to sense the child growing inside her through the Force, but he had failed to see her physical and emotional changes when he was physically next to her.

Had the war distracted him so much that he had missed such obvious changes? The woman mere feet away was not the same heroine, she didn't display the same valiance and courage that she had years before on Geonosis. The former queen, the current Senator of Naboo had been reduced to a woman permanently scarred by the actions of her husband. How had he missed such an obvious transformation? How had he missed the fall of a great hero? How had he missed the point when she had allowed herself too change?

Yet, he couldn't blame her. The only thing she had done was to follow her heart, nor was it Anakin's fault. No, Anakin was a good man, Anakin was the chosen one, Anakin had _loved_ Padmé with all his heart and soul. But, Anakin was dead. Beaten, and crushed down by the demon, Lord Vader. It was Vader that had killed the Jedi in that temple, it was Vader who had broken Padmé's heart, and in the process of destroying so much had broken his Obi-Wan's heart as well. It was Vader that had caused the dark veil that shrouded the force to grow even darker.

Vader had massacred the Jedi, had brought the one politician Obi-Wan had ever allowed himself to trust to her knees. Vader had won the Clone Wars, but Obi-Wan hadn't suspected that he was on the wrong side until it was too late. Because of Vader, the Republic had fallen. Because of Vader endless masses of people would suffer under the rule of an Empire. Because of Vader the Jedi Order was destroyed. Because of Vader, Padmé had lost her true love. One way or another, it was all about to end.

He meditated in silence. He could see Anakin clearly in his mind. He watched the boy as he grew and changed over the years, yet he still couldn't see how everything had so suddenly changed. It seemed as if he had just spoken with Anakin, joked with him. How had he missed Anakin growing up into a powerful Jedi? How had he missed Anakin falling in love with Padmé? How did he miss it when Anakin made such a transformation? How had the little boy from Tatooine made this transformation? How did the Jedi he had cared for like a son allow this to happen? How did Anakin become the very thing he had fought for so long to destroy?

Reaching out through the force he could feel the torment of the young woman as she stared solemnly through one of the viewports in the spacious cockpit. He could feel her heart pounding, as it began to crack and to shatter. His own heart was being shredded apart by what was happening. Deep down he tried to find Anakin through the Force, but he could only sense darkness, and hatred. Now fighting back tears he focused once more on Padmé, the woman who still emanated love and compassion, the woman who in a time of darkness was bringing so much light to the Force. His mind went to the child she would soon bear, and he was stunned by the brilliance of the light the child within her bore. As he focused solely on the child his heart began to race faster when he begin to feel another presence within the radiant light.

It was then that he realized she was bearing twins. Twins that would face the darkest evils in the galaxy. The fate of the universe rested within Padmé's womb, and for a moment he could see Anakin standing with Padmé on Naboo, holding their children, staring down at a serene lake. At that moment there was nothing he wanted more than to be able to secure such a future for his two friends. Two friends who had taken such different paths. Padmé, who had always been cool and calculated, had followed her heart and forsaken common sense. Then there was Anakin, the Jedi who had once followed his heart, only now to have forsaken that path, to turn to darkness.

Feeling the light of the twins through the Force gave him strength and the courage he knew he would need to defeat Vader. The light from the three beings in the cockpit of the Nubian vessel filled his heart with hope. Hope that the galaxy would not fall into darkness, hope that Padmé and her children could be spared from certain pain. And hope to save Anakin's soul from the torment of Vader. _Vader may have killed Anakin, but he couldn't stop the Jedi I knew, and loved, from giving us the keys to defeating Vader and Palpatine. For that I thank you, Anakin. Though you may no longer be with us, you gave the galaxy one final gift. Your love may not have been enough to save yourself, or Padmé, but it may have been enough to save the galaxy.

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The End

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End file.
